The investment potential of Vitebsk

Vitebsk is one of the most ancient cities of the Republic of Belarus. It is situated in the north-east part of our Republic. Vitebsk is one of the most ancient and northern regional city of the Republic. It is a large administrative, industrial and cultural center.

Vitebsk occupies 9,6 hectares of the territory with the population of 355, 7 thousand people.

Vitebsk has an advantageous geographical position (which is very beneficial for all kinds of industrial activity) as it is located on the main trade crossroads of the Republic from Russia to Baltic countries, from Baltic to the Ukraine as well as to the countries of Central and Western Europe.

The city is located at the junction of rail, road and airlines routes linking Vitebsk with these mega cities. Vitebsk airport can accept any kind of airplanes.

Vitebsk is situated in the distance of

800 km from Warsaw

514 km from Riga

638 km from Brest

602 km from Saint-Petersburg

281 km from Minsk

500km from Moscow

360 km from Vilnius

580km from Kiev.

The system of education comprises establishments of different professional orientation that allows to prepare qualified specialists. A high educational level and presence of qualified personnel make the potential of the city attractive to the investors. There are 5 higher educational establishments in our city: Vitebsk Masherov State University, Vitebsk Technological University, Vitebsk State Academy of Veterinary Sciences, Vitebsk State Medical University, Vitebsk branch of International Institute of Labour and Social Sciences and Institute of technical acoustic of National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus.

Vitebsk has favorable internal factors and conditions for the development of foreign trade and attraction of investments. Vitebsk is a cultural capital of Belarus. The most considerable forum of art is the International festival of art “the Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk” collects participants and visitors from more than 30 countries of the world.

The city is connected with life and creativity of many outstanding poets and writers, musicians and composers. The city has gone down to history as one of the main centers of avant-garde art. Ilya Repin, Yehuda Pen, Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, P. Falk, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky created here. The basic natural resources of the city are: a mineral source on the base of which the climate-balneal resort “Liotsy” works and the largest dolomite deposit in Belarus. There are considerable stocks of clays and loams, building sand in vicinities of Vitebsk.

The industrial potential of the city presents more than 600 enterprises of machine-building and metal cutting branches, light industry and food-processing industry, manufacturers of building materials. The city takesthe fifth part of the commodity output of the industry of Vitebsk region.

Tools and instruments of “Vistan” and “Vizas” enterprises, the production of the societies “Ceramica”, “Dolomitt”, “Vitebskdrev”, “Vitebsk carpets”, the production of association “Energocomplect”, “Vityaz” TV sets, “Marko” and “Belwest” footwear, “Znamya Industrialisatsii” clothes, confectionary products of “Vitjba”, meat and dairy products have deserved a high reputation in the country and abroad.

There are 68 enterprises with the participation of the foreign capital in the city, 31 of them are foreign enterprises. They are created with participation of the capital of 16 countries of the world. The greatest inflow of investments is from Russia, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Poland.

Enterprises of the city have foreign trade contacts with 80 countries of the world. The main trading partners of the city are Russia, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova, China.

The activization of the investment and innovative activity defines the basic directions for the development of the city – the constructions of habitation with objects of infrastructure and service, creation of the new focused on export and import replacing enterprises, perfection of the organization of trade - from the markets to the large trading-entertaining centers – hypermarkets.

The unused or inefficiently used municipal and republican property is offered to the investors for the organization of industrial activity on conditions of their purchase and rent. Detailed information about the auctions and offered for sale objects are in the Fund of state property "Vitebskoblimuschestvo": Vitebsk, Pravdy Street 38, Phone (+375-212) 476096, 474018.

E-mail: votfondgi@tut.by, http://www.fondgosim.vitebsk.by;

Department of management of the municipal property of Vitebsk city executive committee: Vitebsk, Zamkovaya Street, 4.

Phone (+375-212) 37 25 45; 36 0215, 37 32 65 http://www.vitebsk.gov.by.

To those enterprises that base on export of their production the free economic zone “Vitebsk” can offer to the potential investors tax and customs privileges, the highly skilled staff, the free industrial buildings provided with all engineering communications.

The legal address: 210605, Vitebsk, P.Brovka Street, 50.

Ph. (+375212) 260802, e-mail: fez@vitebsk.by, http://www.fez-vitebsk.com

For those who wish to build from the very start we can make a list of the land sites for realization on the auctions the right of making the rent contracts.

The information about auctions is in mass media and on the city website: http://www.vitebsk.gov.by.

The detailed information about the auctions taking in the city is possible to get in “Vitebsk institute of the real estate” http://;www.ocenka.by; e-mail: vit.in@tut.by

and “the Vitebsk regional centre of marketing” (Phone: +375-212-47-97-35, mobile: MTC +375-33-613-31-94 and Velcom +375-44-747-97-35), http://www.vitinvest.biz, e-mail: vcm74@mail.ru

To the potential investors we offer the participation in social-cultural objects building in new inhabited microdistricts. The information about planning objects can be received in the department of architecture and town-planning of Vitebsk: Shubin Street, 5/13. Phone/fax:+375 212 47 69 07; 47 13 44 e-mail: vit_arh_ya@mail.ru

The infrastructure of business development is created for businessmen-beginners in Vitebsk:

Incubator of small business – a society with a limited liability industrial group “Zakon I poriadok” phone:+375 212 36 03 35;

e-mail: zip@vitebsk.ws; http://www.zip.vitebsk.ws,

Society with additional responsibility “Vitebsk business centre” phone: +375 212 36 00 96, phonefax +375 212 36 05 08? e-mail: vitbiz@mail.ru; http://www.vitinvest.by,

The municipal consulting unitary enterprise “the Vitebsk regional centre of marketing” phonefax:+375 212 47 45 35 http://www.vitinvest.biz, vcm74@mail.ru

Vitebsk Executive Committee invites all investors interested in participation in realization of investment projects. The committee is ready to assist in reception of all the necessary information, to consider other investment proposals promoting the creation of new working manufactures, introduction of modern technologies and the organization of industrial activity in Vitebsk.

Phone: (+375 212) 36 01 65; http://www.vitebsk.gov.by.

Phone: (+375 212) 36 00 11; E-mail: vgic@vitebsk.by

Phone: (+375 212) 23 62 02 (Deutsch)

Phone: (+375 212) 26 01 66 (English)

Phone/Fax: (+ 375 212) 36 46 64; 36 29 23;

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